Today, we're digging up some fossil words! To wit: We'll wade through the flotsam and jetsam of words that have lost all their meaning to us except in very specific circumstances. So batten down the hatches! We wouldn't want to give this topic short shrift.
We start with a quick lightning round of the most mispronounced names of 2020, followed by a TRIPLE redundancy from a listener, and then we'll tackle some of the most commonly confused word pairs in English... but only the ones that start with A, B, or C. Otherwise we'd be here forever.
Prompted by a listener email about pet peeves, we'll look at redundant phrases people use every day, and talk about how sometimes redundancy... can be good?
It's time for the airing of grievances! We'll toss around our least favorite examples of business jargon and PR puffery—it's a good, old-fashioned gripe session for Christmas.
We dig into the second half of our holiday feast with some pasta, hot and cold soups, ancient grains, and even a little digestif. Plus, we'll take another dip into jus... or au jus, as the case may be. Bon appetit!
It's a cornucopia of delights! A feast for the... mouth? Ears? Whatever words are a feast for. We'll scarf down a Brazilian berry, a flaky French treat, and some delicious little potato pastas, while trying not to get yelled at by our Greek waiter. How exactly do you say all of these delicacies?
This time out we're going to get nice and cute and have a little fun with some words that were born on the wrong side of the tracks, but found the path to redemption.
Horse jumping, goats fighting hedgehogs, rude fruit-related gestures... today we look at some of the most surprising and exciting word origins we can think of.
We're continuing on from the last episode's fun and games, but the difficulty is ramping up!
Well, actually Nine Egregious Errors, but Eight looks better, and one of them isn't really THAT bad. We'll look at some of the most common language mistakes, even in major publications, that might make your eyes pop out of your head. But... are they really a big deal?
Find out what happens when perfectly nice words fall in with the wrong crowd...
OK, the time has come to talk about OK, OK? OK!
They're just two small, simple words. But when you put them together... all bets are off.
"She was probly at interpetive dance class at the libry that Febuary fifteenth."No? No good? Try saying it out loud...
It's our 50th podcast extravaganza! We'll talk about the current bête noire of the language world, "irregardless", as well as other redundancies and ways language may be changing for better or worse. Plus, a hodgepodge (or mishmash, or olio, or potpourri, take your pick) of listener pet peeves and whatever else might be on our minds. We can do what we want, we're 50 now.
"The Warmth of the Athletic Hamster."
Grab some aspirin and try to wrap your head around the sloppy Venn diagram of homonyms, homophones, homographs, heteronyms, heterographs, polysemes... confused yet? So are we...
Why do some words sound pleasing while others feel ugly? Listen along as Kathy, Ross, and Fletcher try to work out: Is beauty in the ear of the beholder?
Do you have a smile that gleams and glistens and glows? Does the snot in your snout make you sneeze? Was that a slimy slug that just slithered by? Wait a minute—it seems like there's something going on here...
Two weeks ago, we had so much fun with French phrases, we figured, "why not do Latin?" Fletcher has some thoughts about why not to do Latin.
Is the entire French language Kathy's bête noire? Will Fletcher come up with le mot juste? Or will this whole thing just fill Ross with ennui? La partie commence!
This episode brought to you by the letter "Q." Well, "Qu." Because we don't know any English words that just start with "Q."
Artists, philosophers, movers and shakers—you'd better get these names right or you might be found out as a fraud.
This week we're looking at words we hear a lot, that may have some pretty hazy definitions, or may have ceased to have any meaning at all — including (appropriately) pandemic, socialist, and fascist. Also, well, Fletcher's not exactly himself this week.
Prompted by a listener question, we look at words we have no business pronouncing correctly but that we do anyway. Choir, colonel, phlegm, island... where did these crazy spellings come from, anyway? Also, Ross enlightens us on the joys of, um, "borborygm."
Do you like to enjoy a soda... or a pop? Do you put on your sneakers... or your tennis shoes? This time out, we talk about how we talk about the same things in different ways. And you'll never guess what they call a milkshake in Rhode Island (no, seriously, you'll never guess it).
The thrilling conclusion of our Place Name Showdown — will Fletcher hang on to his early lead and emerge victorious? What kind of devious traps have Kathy and Ross set? And we'll circle all the way back around to Peking duck...and another dish with a name we may need to rethink.
Kathy, Ross, and Fletcher face off to see who's tops at pronouncing unusually named cities, countries, and regions from around the world. Who will emerge as the champion pronouncer? Grab a pen and paper and play along to see if you can beat the experts!
"Abate the edge of traitors...That would reduce these bloudy daies again."
God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
